Darkened Whispers
by Child of Wind and Wolves
Summary: A teen-aged girl begins the year at Ouran and is more broken than those around her assume. Can her false smile keep everyone fooled or will her mask crack and reveal the broken girl within?
1. Chapter 1

Chouko walked down the hallway, her books clutched to her chest as she walked in silence. The pink hallway was littered with people dressed in yellow dresses that poofed at the bottom and periwinkle suits. She avoided the gazes of the other students; she knew she was an outsider with her loose jeans and simple tee shirt. Chouko wasn't meant to be a part of this school, one exclusively for children of the rich. It was pure luck that she managed to get into the school. It was what her parents had planned for her before they had passed; they saved up for her to go to Ouran for so long. She didn't want to not follow their wishes.

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><p>Standing in front of the class with shaking hands Chouko introduced herself. She could hear the whispers bounce around the room. They wondered how she had gotten in if she was dressed like a "commoner" as they had taken to calling her. The teacher told her to sit next to a boy named Ootori and she silently obliged. She didn't speak once to the class other than to introduce herself, nor did she leave the class when lunch came. She couldn't eat with them too, they would really start to mock her if they saw her bento brought from her house. So Chouko sat at her desk and silently ate her lunch while her small mp3 played music through the headphones she carried around her neck.<p>

"Why are you eating alone princess?" An unfamiliar voice called to Chouko from the doorway of the classroom. Chouko jumped slightly; startled from deep within her thoughts. She looked towards the doorway and saw the only tall blonde boy that shared the class with her, Tamaki Suoh. She had heard girls around the class whispering about the "Prince" and kept the name in the back of her mind.

"Please don't call me princess, I am no such thing. I'm eating alone out of choice. Why don't you go on and eat your lunch Suoh-san? I'm sure there are many others that would gladly keep you company." Chouko said as she pushed her layered chocolate hair out of her face. Due to the layering many stands of her hair fell into her face all the time.

"But what kind of gentleman would I be if I left you here alone? I know! You should come to the Host Club after classes today. You are new and you could meet a lot of other girls from school." Tamaki smiled at his idea but Chouko just gently shook her head. She knew she had no place going somewhere like that. She wasn't fully certain what a Host Club was but she was sure she would stick out like in such a place.

"I'm sorry Suoh-san but I must decline your offer. I have things I must attend to after classes have finished and I would rather not be late to them. Thank you for the offer though." Chouko gave him a slight smile before she turned back to her food, hoping to finish it before the bell for classes rang again. Tamaki didn't say anything further but Chouko could hear his footsteps leave the class and walk down the hallway. She sighed slightly before she started to sing along with her music quietly while she ate.

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><p>Near the end of classes Chouko started to let herself look around the class and take in her classmates. She noticed that the boy called Ootori wore wire framed glasses with what appeared to be stormy grey eyes and black hair cut short and smoothed back. She looked around the rest of the class and noticed Tamaki watching her with a smile. She also noticed his odd violet eyes and tilted her head slightly. Chouko had no idea someone's eyes could naturally be that color. She turned back to the front of the class and waited patiently for the bell to ring so she could head home.<p>

After classes had ended Chouko started to walk home and thought about her first day in Ouran. She hadn't really talked to anyone besides Tamaki. She let a sigh of relief pass over her lips; she was going to fade into the background without any trouble. In such a prestigious school she didn't want to draw any form of bad attention to herself. She didn't want to cause any trouble or do anything that might affect her future. Chouko had no way of knowing who she would see again past high school, or who she would be working under for that matter. She had to be careful indeed.

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><p><em>Chouko walked down the short hallway in her house but noticed that the more she walked the longer the hallway seemed. She could hear whispers about how sad it was and who was going to watch her. She looked around the hallway with wide eyes; she knew what was going on. Chouko ran for the end of the hallway in hopes that she would see her parents again before they disappeared again. The hallway seemed to just grow longer before her as she heard the paramedics yelling orders to one another. She screamed out and yelled as she tried, without success. <em>

"_Things will change soon." Chouko heard a vaguely familiar voice call from the darkness. She looked around for the voice before she heard the paramedics once more and the one phrase she dreaded hearing, the one that meant the people they were working on were dead._

"No!" Chouko woke herself up shouting as tears ran down her cheeks. She didn't want to face it. She never wanted to face the fact that her parents were gone. How could she when she had lost them not even four years prior? Her heart still ached with the fact that she was actually alone in the world. Her friends had moved on and forgotten her and her parents had passed. Chouko sat on the edge of her bed and stared at the deep violet carpet as tears fell from her honey colored eyes. She reached on her nightstand and pulled off a pair of crimson framed glasses and put them on after she wiped away her tears. She looked at the clock and sighed before she stood up and stretched.

"Well I have two hours before my alarm goes off. I guess I should go ahead and get ready for today. There shouldn't be that much that I need to do." Chouko whispered to herself as she walked over to the closet and picked out a red v-cut shirt with thin back stripes and a light pair of jeans that were worn where they fell over her heels with a black, silver peace sign studded belt. She nodded at her outfit as she laid it out on her bed and left to shower.

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><p>Chouko finally made it to the large pink painted building that was her school and silently started to walk to her class. She noticed that more people where whispering as she walked by and it slightly unnerved her as she walked. Were they talking about her or were they talking about something else that was meant for no one else's ears? She didn't know but she walked a little quicker to her class and tried to escape the whispers that made her nightmare fresh in her mind.<p>

Chouko took her seat and started to lay her notebook and things out on her desk in preparation for the lecture the teacher was sure to give. She didn't notice the eyes that were on her nor the person that was approaching her desk. She sighed slightly as her pencil rolled off her desk and across the floor, stopping at someone's polished shoes. Chouko reached for it when she realized that the boy had already picked it up and was holding it out to her. She blushed lightly when she noticed it was Ootori and nodded her thanks as she took the pencil.

"Makoto-san, I would like to invite you to come to the Host Club this afternoon. It seems that our president, Tamaki, has already invited you. We believe it would be beneficial for you to attend and get to meet others from around the school. Will you be there?" Ootori asked as he watched Chouko with calculating eyes. Chouko nodded shyly, she knew she couldn't say no to someone who held such an impressive aura. Once Ootori had taken his seat Chouko let out a light sigh, she was trying to figure out what sort of trouble she may have gotten into with agreeing to attend a club whose two members she knew of were so handsome.

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><p>AN

So this is about the 5th time or so that I have redone A Rose Hidden by Shadows. This time, however, will be different. This time I will not be using the same name for the story nor will it be following the same plot. Things will have changed in this story and it should follow more closely to the manga. The reason the manga and not the anime is because that gives room for the continuation, which I need to fix. Either way, please review and tell me if you like this and want to read more.

Thank you,

~Wolves


	2. Chapter 2

Chouko walked down the hallway with her bag hanging heavily on her shoulder. She was following a very crudely drawn map that Tamaki had handed her before he walked out of their class with Ootori. She sighed a bit as she found another stairway and realized exactly how big the school was. She had already walked about three other stairwells and hadn't come close to finding this Third Music Room that was indicated on the map. It would have also helped Chouko had Tamaki listed which section of the school it was in, the entire school was symmetrical in every aspect.

"He never said which section I was supposed to go to, or did he? Maybe he did tell me but I don't remember." Chouko spoke softly to herself as she climbed yet another staircase. She was thinking about where she had already been and where she was heading so she didn't notice someone walking down the stairs. Chouko didn't realize there was another person on the stairs until her body clashed with theirs and she started to tumble down the stairs. A slight yelp escaped her lips as she hit the stairs and eventually the floor.

"Oh, no! Are you alright?" The boy asked as he hurried down the stairs to where Chouko sat on the floor and rubbed the back of her head. She looked up at the boy through watery eyes; she had hit the stairs and the floor quite hard.

"I will be." Chouko said as she took the boy's outstretched hand to pull herself up. She winced a bit when pressure was put on her ankle and almost collapsed to the ground once more. The boy, that Chouko noticed had short brown hair a bit darker than her own and kind brown eyes, gasped slightly when he saw Chouko almost fall again.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he put an arm around Chouko's shoulders to help her keep weight off her foot. Chouko balanced a bit on one foot as she looked over her left ankle and found that it was difficult to inspect because of black and red high top sneakers.

"I must have twisted my ankle. It'll be fine if I can sit for a while." Chouko started to hop slightly towards the stairs fully intent on sitting on the stairs until she could walk again.

"Wait here for a little bit. I'll go get someone to help." The boy hurried back up the stairs before Chouko could even protest. She sighed a bit at what had just taken place and went to work carefully untying her shoe. She was about to pull it off when she heard footsteps approach from above her and the voice of the boy from earlier talking to someone.

"She is just at the bottom of these stairs Mori-senpai. She may have sprained her ankle and I think Kyouya-senpai might be able to tell us." The boy explained as the two walked down the stairs.

"Hmm." The tall dark haired boy didn't really say anything as he looked down at Chouko. Chouko looked at the other boy, a little intimidated by the larger boy.

"It's fine. If I sit here for a while I'll be able to walk again." Chouko spoke softly to the boy. She didn't notice the taller silent boy approach her until he had already lifted her. A yelp left her lips as she felt herself being lifted into the air and she felt a light blush of embarrassment dust her cheeks.

"I'm really sorry about this. I wasn't looking where I was going and it caused you to get hurt." The smaller boy said with a light grimace. Chouko shook her head a bit before she spoke to him.

"No, it was my fault. I was too absorbed in trying to figure out where I was trying to go that I wasn't paying attention to where I was. Either way I think it would be best to introduce ourselves. I'm Chouko Makoto." Chouko said, trying to keep her mind off the fact that an admittedly handsome boy was carrying her down the hallway.

"Oh, yeah. I'm Haruhi Fujioka and this is Takashi Morinozuka. We just call him Mori-senpai though." Haruhi introduced both of them. Chouko nodded her head on understanding.

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><p>Chouko sat on one of the many plush couches scattered across the room. She hadn't known that falling down the stairs would lead to her discovering the Third Music Room. After the initial freak out, there not really being any other way to describe what Tamaki did, of Tamaki everything had calmed down. Chouko just sat and watched the room in silence and smiled a bit at what the boys were doing. She noticed quickly that all the boys were putting smiles on the faces of each of the girls at their table.<p>

"So what do you think of our little club Makoto-san?" Chouko heard Ootori's cool voice ask from behind her. She turned to face him and smiled a bit.

"I like it. Everyone here is making others smile and that is pretty cool. There is so much gloom in the world now and it is good to see that there are people who are trying to alleviate that, even if it is for a short amount of time." Chouko smiled as she looked over the club. She silently wished that she could help out with the club. She bit her lip slightly and wondered if it would be worth it to ask if she could help with something.

"Um, Ootori-san. I'm kind of wondering if I could possibly help out with this club. I could bake sweets and make snacks as well as brew tea. It seems you don't have anyone doing that and I would love to help out something that is doing such good." Chouko asked a bit shyly. She honestly wanted to help but she knew it was somewhat odd to ask such a thing when she had only been a student for three days.

"Hmm, you would be willing to do that? We may be able to let you do that but I'll have to talk to Tamaki." Ootori said as he walked off towards Tamaki's table. Chouko watched the two before she turned to watch the other members of the club. She only knew four of the seven people spread out across the room.

"We think it would be a good idea for you to help." Ootori said when he stopped to stand next to the couch Chouko sat on. Chouko smiled when she heard the news, things were going to be a bit better.

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><p>A couple days passed from when Chouko first started working for the Host Club. She stayed mostly in the kitchen and was rarely seen amongst the customers. The members became vaguely aware of the fact that when the club was in session they could hear music coming from the kitchen. No one really questioned it or said anything about it until one day about a week later.<p>

Chouko stood at the stove and stirred the liquid within the pot. Her mp3 player was connected to a set of speakers on the back counter and was playing music. She wasn't smiling as she normally would while cooking and was singing a song and if one listened to the lyrics it was somewhat dark. Chouko didn't notice that the door to the kitchen was being held open as she sang the song and stared blankly into the distance.

"Chouko-senpai? Are you alright?" Haruhi asked as he walked into the kitchen upon hearing Chouko's song. He was the only one close to the door as the music floated out.

"Hmm? Oh, yes Haruhi. How many times have I told you to just call me Chouko?" She asked as she stirred the pot again and walked over to pause the music. Haruhi noticed a look in Chouko's eyes like she was dreading something or didn't want time to pass.

"You don't seem alright. Will you tell me what's wrong?" Haruhi asked gently as he placed an empty tray on the counter and walked over to Chouko. He could tell that she was fighting the urge to cry.

"Can wounds in the heart ever heal?" Chouko asked vaguely as she inhaled deeply to avoid crying. "I'm sorry, that was a stupid question." She laughed a bit and smiled at Haruhi. "Oh, the cake is done. Would you mind running that out to Hunny-senpai?" Chouko asked when she pointed to the white and pink iced cake with strawberries sitting neatly on top of it.

"Sure." Haruhi said a bit distractedly as he took the cake and left. He gave a glance back at Chouko who was smiling as she searched through her mp3 player for something to play. Haruhi shook his head and pulled the kitchen door closed.

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><p>After the club finished Chouko stayed back and did the dishes that she had dirtied that day. She had fallen back into the rut she was in during the morning and sighed. She watched as the water flowed from the faucet and hit the bottom of the sink. Her mind wasn't on the dishes she was washing but what she was supposed to do after she left. Once she finished the dishes she silently turned off the speakers and took her mp3 player before gathering the rest of her things to head home.<p>

On her way home Chouko was silent and seemed to be somewhat sad about something. It was then that she turned away from the street going to her house and started to walk in a different direction. She sighed heavily as she walked into a small flower shop and purchased a bouquet of flowers. Chouko left the small store and continued heading for the cemetery ahead of her.

Unknown to Chouko was the fact that she was being followed. Haruhi had voiced her concerns to the Host Club, not knowing that Tamaki would insist that they follow her and figure out what was wrong with her. The entire Host Club was following from a safe distance behind the girl, not wanting her to find that they had been following her since she left the school.

Chouko stopped before two gravestones and looked at them sadly. She placed the flowers down among the two. She bit her lip slightly before she started to speak softly.

"It's been a while since I could come here. I'm sorry; trying to get into Ouran was a bit more difficult than I originally thought it would be. I was allowed to help out with this club at school. They work to make girls at the school smile and I think that is really good. The president of the club is a bit off but he is kind. I hope he never changes really. Well I have a lot of homework tonight. I guess I'll be leaving now. I love you both." Chouko spoke softly and sadly as she looked over the graves. She quickly turned from them and started to run. She ran past the Host Club and didn't even notice them as she fought back tears.

The Host Club looked to where she had run off before Haruhi approached where Chouko had laid the flowers. A slight gasp of surprise could be heard from him as he looked at the writing on the stones.

"Guys, I think I know what was wrong with Chouko. Come look at this." Haruhi pointed out to the rest of the club before he read the writing on each of the stones. "This one says Daichi Makoto and he passed on April 29, 2001. The other one says Haruyo Makaoto and she passed the same day." Haruhi pointed to the dates carved in the stone.

"Are these Chou-chan's parents?" Hunny-senpai asked carefully. Everyone in the Host Club remained silent because they already knew the answer. That was why Chouko was upset but who was she living with if her parents had passed? The entire club was curious and Tamaki decided it was a god time to visit Chouko.

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><p>AN

So, do you guys like this story so far? Would you rather me write short chapters or long chapters? This one is about 4 pages long in Microsoft Word, so yeah. Either way I would love to hear from everyone if they like it or not. Thank you.

~Wolves.


	3. Chapter 3

Chouko sat on the couch in her living room. She was flipping through her textbooks and trying to solve various problems spread out on the papers before her. She was humming softly to the music that was playing through her stereo. She was too involved in her work to notice the knock on her door, or the door bell ringing.

Outside stood the Host Club, they were looking at Kyouya and all wondering the same thing. Had he gotten the address wrong? Suddenly the twins started to bang on the door in an attempt to gain Chouko's attention. Shortly after the door was quickly pulled open and Chouko looked on in a bit of shock.

"Um, hello?" She tilted her head in confusion at the group outside her door. What were they doing there? Actually, how had they found her address? Chouko was confused by the sudden appearance but let the group in anyway.

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In the room they sat in an awkward silence, the hosts trying to figure out how to break it to her that they knew and Chouko wondering why they were there and how they got there. Suddenly Hunny's loud cry broke the silence and soon Chouko understood why they were there.

"We're sorry for what happened to you Chou-chan! I can't believe it!" Hunny wailed as he clung to Chouko's side. Chouko smiled sadly when she finally figured out what he was talking about.

"It's alright Hunny-senpai. " Chouko spoke softly as she gently rubbed the boy's back. She really couldn't believe that the person clinging to her was actually older than her and not a child.

"Are you sure Chou-chan?" The senior asked cutely as he turned his big eyes up to the younger teen.

"Yes. I'm alright, I've learned to live without them and support myself." Chouko nodded, trying to make the lie sound like a truth. The truth was that she still hurt from the absence of her parents and it was hard for her. But she learned that she needed to go on anyway, the world wouldn't stop.

"If you say so Chouko-senapi." Haruhi said, not fully believing the teen. He knew the loss of one parent and that alone was harsh. He glanced at the others in the Host Club, the twins and Tamaki talking with Chouko and Kyouya watching from his seat on the couch. Haruhi wondered what might have been running through his mind but Kyouya's mask was hard, if not close to impossible, to read.

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The following day was a free day for those attending Ouran, but for Chouko it wasn't. She had to work that day at the bakery in town. It was normal for her to work like that; she had to earn money somehow. So she took up a job doing the one thing she knew best.

Chouko stood behind the counter placing the finishing touches on one of the many cakes spread out along the table. She was the only one working at the moment, but she didn't mind it. The silence was actually helping her concentrate on the decorations. Suddenly the sound of the bell over the door brought her from her thoughts.

"One moment!" Chouko called as she grabbed a paper towel and wiped icing off of her hands as she made her way to the front counter. There she was met with a surprise.

"I see, you work here. That must be how you have been living alone for so long." Kyouya said in a calculating tone. Chouko froze, she never expected to see anyone from Ouran there, it was against the school's regulations for a student to hold a job without informing the chairman.

"Yes, I've held this job for a couple years now. Please don't tell the chairman. I'm sure I would be expelled for not following the regulations." Chouko spoke quickly, her voice losing the professional tone it held during school hours.

"What merit would there be for me?" Kyouya asked coldly. He didn't understand this girl. Her relatives had offered to support her but she was holding a job and not taking their offer. From what he could find she let them pay the bills but only for things she absolutely needed, the rest she paid herself.

"I…..I don't know." Chouko looked down and bit her lip. She didn't want to cry in front of the Ootori but she couldn't help it. She held nothing of merit for him so she was sure he would tell the chairman about the job she tried to keep hidden.

"You'll work for me. During school and days you have off, you will work for me." Kyouya told Chouko, his glasses hiding his eyes. This girl was the only person he could not read, the only one he didn't understand. He was determined to fix that.

"Thank you Ootori-senpai. Thank you so much." Chouko bowed to the teen. She was thankful, not that she was going to have an even larger work load she knew that Kyouya would never go back on something he said. Even though she had only known him for a short time she still could see that he was that type of person, even if he was doing many things for his own merit.

"I'm here to pick up an order for the Host Club. We're having a little outing tomorrow and at Hunny's request I ordered some sweets from here." Kyouya said quickly as he wrote something down in the notebook that was kept with him most of the time.

"Oh, yes. It will only be a moment." Chouko hurried back into the kitchen and quickly spotted the pastries sitting on the counter. They had a note attached to them that they were already paid for so Chouko carefully picked them up and walked out. When she saw Kyouya she noticed that he was holding the door open.

'He wants me to carry them to his car? I guess that is part of the deal. I wonder how long I'll be able to keep this up.' Chouko kept her thoughts to herself as she walked to Kyouya's limo with the cakes and loaded them in. Then she thanked him for his business and went back in to finish the other cakes.

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The hosts, mostly Tamaki, had decided it was time for a trip to the beach. He claimed it would be their last as the full club. So they dragged everyone, including Chouko, out to Kyouya's private beach. Chouko heard the twins mumbling about Kyouya finally agreeing to not invite the customers, which didn't surprise her at all.

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Once they were settled into their temporary house Chouko changed into a swimsuit and was heading out to get some sun. Suddenly she was stopped by Kyouya calling after her.

"Chouko, I need you to go over these orders." Kyouya handed the teen a stack of papers and headed out towards where the others were. Chouko sighed slightly and sat at a nearby table. Kyouya hadn't really been giving her anything to do but when he did it was in the most inopportune times. She would never understand his reasoning.

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"I finished looking over the orders, they seem to be correct." Chouko told Kyouya when she finally found him under an umbrella on the beach. "I laid the papers on your bed so they won't be lost." Chouko watched the dark haired teen but she was itching to run around in the sand and have a little bit of fun. She hadn't been to a beach in so many years and forgot how good the sand felt.

"Very well." Kyouya said as he went back to work. Chouko let out a light squeal and ran off, missing the quick look the Shadow King had given her. He wondered why she was so excited and watched as she ran on the beach. He watched Chouko as she ran into the water and screamed at how cold it was. Kyouya idly noticed that the black multicolored bikini looked good on her. He then shook his head. Such odd things he was noticing.

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Hikaru and Kaoru snuck up behind Chouko while she was in the water and splashed her with the cool salt water. Chouko yelped loudly before she turned and saw the twins. She was poised to splash them back when she stopped for a moment.

"Where did you get that swimsuit?" The asked her in unison as they looked over her interesting choice. It was a multicolored bikini with thin crocheted black fabric over it connecting the tops to the bottoms over her belly.

"I just picked it up at the store. I though it looked cool, was it a bad choice?" Chouko asked quickly as a light blush went over her cheeks and she rubbed slightly at the fabric.

"No, we were just surprised you would go with something so outgoing." Kaoru stated with a light shrug.

"It seems a bit more outgoing than you normally would be." Hikaru finished before he leaned against his brother. Chouko just blushed a bit as she nodded and hurried off. Chouko walked off towards where Haruhi was sitting and sat next to him.

"Hey Haruhi. How are you enjoying the trip?" Chouko asked as she leaned back on her hands. She was enjoying the feeling of the warm sand on her skin and couldn't understand how Haruhi could wear regular clothes.

"Yeah. This is turning out better than the last time we were here. I'm glad Kyouya didn't bring the customers here like last time." Haruhi shrugged as he looked out over the water.

"Oh, that sounds like it wasn't too much fun. Sometime you should fill me in on what happened." Chouko sighed as she lay down on the sand. "This feels nice. The last time I was ever able to come to a beach was when I seven. My parents and I went on vacation." Chouko said quietly. She stared at the clear blue sky and watched a cloud pass by.

"I lost my mom when I was young. She is the reason why I am going here today, for her and for myself." Haruhi spoke softly. "I'm planning on becoming a lawyer like my mother."

"My parents wanted me to attend Ouran. That's why I'm here. Guess we're a bit similar, aren't we Haruhi?" Chouko said with a small smile.

A/N

Sorry for this taking so long to get out. I don't know why I wasn't working on it in the first place. So, please review and tell me what you think of this little twist. I hope everyone enjoyed this one and I should have another chapter of one of the others out soon.

~Wolves


	4. Chapter 4

Chouko leaned against the wall under her open window. Even though they were on a short break some of her teachers had given them homework to complete. So the teen opted to work on her homework before she went to bed to not be a bother to anyone. She had been stuck on a particularly difficult problem in math and was taking a short break by gazing at the stars. A light breeze blew in off of the ocean and made the brunette shiver a bit. After the events of the day, mostly playing with Hunny, she was tired and really wanted to sleep. Chouko didn't notice when she started to fall into the familiar embrace of sleep and was soon sleeping soundly with her head on the bottom of the open window.

Kyouya knocked lightly on Chouko's door, having already found out that she also worked late into the night. He opened the door when he received no reply and was about to call out to her when he saw her sleeping soundlessly against the far wall. Kyouya stood looking at her as he noticed that she looked somewhat pained in her sleep. He drew closer and noticed that she seemed to be whimpering soundlessly. He was curious as to what would cause this but decided against investigating. With a light sigh and running his hand through his hair, he gently picked Chouko up and made his way to her bed. As he was about to lay her down and leave he hand grabbed his shirt.

Kyouya looked at Chouko and quickly noticed she was still asleep. She gripped his shirt tightly and muttered something softly, almost to the point of not being heard. Kyouya leaned down and listened, trying to piece together why the teen was holding him in his spot.

"Please. Don't go…. Please." Chouko muttered in her sleep. During her sleep the dreams had once again become nightmares and she was being tormented by what she was seeing. She did not know that in her sleep she had asked the Shadow King for comfort. Still locked in her nightmares she had no idea what was going on besides asking for the person in her dream, the only one who offered a sense of safety, not to leave her.

Kyouya sighed as he watched the sleeping teen. She had yet to release his shirt and it seemed that she wouldn't. He shook his head lightly before he gently moved Chouko over in the bed and lay down next to her. She suddenly released his shirt and snuggled up against him. This action mildly surprised the Shadow King but he found himself soon lost in the sea of dreams.

Chouko slowly woke up as the sun poured into the room from outside. She found herself more rested than she had been in a long time and wasn't waking up from a nightmare. She was mildly confused, and then she realized that she was snuggled against something warm and lightly moving. Chouko quickly sat up and looked to see Kyouya asleep next to her. Thoughts raced through her head, questions and confused statements. What had happened? It was then that Kyouya's arm pulled Chouko back down to lay. She stared at the Shadow King with wide eyes; she was confused but also oddly happy. She didn't feel as sad with his arm around her.

Kyouya woke up to movement on his bed and was ready to yell at Tamaki when he realized his arm was around something. He slowly opened his eyes to look at what he was holding and was a bit surprised to find that it was a sleeping Chouko. Apparently he had fallen asleep last night and stayed with her all night. He shook his head as he made to get up off of the bed and heard her voice quietly ask him.

"Kyouya-san, why are you in my bed?" Chouko asked softly when she realized that the dark haired teen was already awake. She had been pondering the thought since she had woken up and grew very curious.

"Last night I came in to drop off a folder, you were asleep on the floor so I decided to move you. In your sleep you grabbed my shirt and asked me not to leave. Since you wouldn't let go of my shirt it was just easier to stay here." Kyouya replied as he stood up and adjusted his glasses on his nose. Chouko blushed at it though, realizing that what she did in the dream she did in real life too. She hadn't meant to grab him but in her dream that person was the only one that offered such a feeling of safety.

"Oh, thank you for dealing with me. I will take care of those papers soon and return them." Chouko said as she stood and faced the window in an attempt to hide the blush creeping across her features. She didn't know when or how but she had started to develop feelings for the Shadow King.

A/N

I am so sorry about this being so late. College has gotten to me, making my life a bit hectic. I've also been lacking in the mood to write but it is slowly coming back. For now I'm going to work on two stories, this and Sun Kissed Memories. I might try, key word _try_, to revise that one. It seems a bit jumbled to me, but I haven't read over it in a while now. Again I am sorry and also I want to thank those of you who reviewed. It shows me that there is actually interest in this story. Thank you again.


	5. Chapter 5

_Love is like a virus. It can happen to anyone at any time. ~Maya Angelou_

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Chouko sat in the sun on the beach and read over the papers Kyouya had given her. She could hear the laughs of the hosts as they played along the water's edge. A small smile passed over her lips as she heard their joy. Even though she was not part of their social class she knew it was rare for them to have fun and act as teenagers should. It was not how they should behave, not how they were supposed to act to the public's eye. Chouko was happy they could get a chance to act their age, if not younger, and have fun.

Chouko stood and stretched, her back popping from sitting in one position for too long. She then started to walk along the beach and look out at the ocean. She had left the papers under a hardback book she had brought along so they wouldn't fly away while she walked, and so she had nothing to worry about. She walked along the beach for a while until she came to a somewhat rocky cliff that hung out over the water. Chouko smiled a bit as she started to climb one of the less steep sides, thinking of how beautiful the view might be from the top.

As Chouko reached the top she smiled a bit. She had been correct in assuming that the view was beautiful. "Wow, this is amazing." She muttered as she pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear that the wind blew in her face. She walked closer to the edge so she could see the horizon and the waves. It was an absolutely beautiful sight but being up on the cliff did have a downside. "The wind is pretty harsh up here." Chouko mused to herself as she continued to look over the ocean. Suddenly a particularly hard gust of wind knocked her off balance. Chouko gasped as she tried to regain her balance but started to fall over the edge instead. A shrill scream left her lips as she began the decent into the ocean as she hoped that someone heard her.

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Kyouya was sitting under a beach umbrella as he worked on his laptop. There wasn't much that he had to do and for that he was grateful. Soon he would have everything finished and could relax a little bit. Then it would be time for them to head back for school to resume. He glanced out over his screen shortly and looked at all the hosts. Tamaki had roped Haruhi into playing volleyball with him against the twins. Hunny and Mori were wading in the shallow water with Mori keeping Hunny away from anything in the water that might harm him. The only person Kyouya couldn't locate was Chouko. Suddenly he heard a shrill scream and got up quickly. There was only one person who that could be.

Kyouya ran to where he heard the scream come from with the hosts close behind him. He scanned the area before realizing that Chouko was nowhere on dry land. Without a moment's notice he hurried into the water and started to swim towards the water below the cliff. It seemed only logical to check there, the scream could have been something else but one would assume it was from falling. Kyouya looked under the water and saw a familiar form floating in a few feet under the water. He swam to them and quickly noticed the red tint the water was gaining the closer he got. With a grace only a host could own, he grabbed Chouko and quickly started to swim back to land.

Back on land the other hosts watched in shock as Kyouya surfaced with an unconscious Chouko. He gently carried her onto the beach and laid her down. As he did so it became apparent that she had hit her head during the fall, her glasses were missing and there was blood dripping down her forehead.

"Kyou-chan, what happened to Chou-chan?" Hunny asked as he looked over the teen in worry, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. Mori put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"She must have been on the cliff and fell. She hit her head at some point during that. Tamaki, call a doctor and tell him to come here quickly." Kyouya said as he tried to inspect the injury to figure out how bad it was. Tamaki nodded and quickly got on his cell with a doctor. The remaining hosts, the twins and Haruhi, watched the scene before them. They were a bit shocked; it seemed the Shadow King had come to care for someone.

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Chouko woke up slowly and groaned in pain; her head was throbbing and she wasn't fully sure why. She sat up as she opened her eyes but instantly regretted it. The entire room seemed to be spinning and it was making her feel a little nauseas. She heard footsteps quickly approach her as she held her head and idly noticed the bandages around her forehead. Chouko tested her vision again and found it to be normal before she looked around. She was lying on the bed in her room and was being watched by the hosts.

"I fell off the cliff, didn't I?" Chouko asked when she met their worried glances. The twins nodded their head as Chouko almost hit her forehead with her hand. She felt a warm hand around her wrist and lowered her hand, realizing that would hurt a good bit.

"What were you doing on that cliff?" Kyouya asked as he released her wrist to lie in her lap. Chouko looked at him, noticing quickly that he was a bit blurry.

"I thought it would give me motivation to paint. Or at least try it again. It was such a beautiful sight; I just wish I had realized just how strong the wind was up there. So how bad is it, and do I still have my glasses?" Chouko asked as she looked to the nightstand only to find nothing but the lamp. Kyouya shook his head before he answered.

"No, your glasses must have come off when you hit your head. That was the only injury but the doctor said you should take it easy for a while for it to heal." Kyouya said as he pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Do you have something you can use until you get back?"

"Yeah, I always carry contacts with me, even though I rarely use them." Chouko said as she tried to remember where she had placed her contact case. A light sigh left her lips as she hung her head. "I am sorry everyone. I worried you all needlessly. I could have avoided this entire situation had I not gone up on the cliff and for that I am sorry. I am also sorry that I needed to be saved, I should probably invest in swimming lessons." Chouko addressed the group. She actually didn't know who had saved her from the water but she knew it was someone who was in the room.

A/N

So, I had this idea and went with it. I also wanted to have a quote at the beginning that would fit the chapter and that one is quite fitting, wouldn't you think? Anyway I'm going to try to continue to update somewhat regularly, I will not say I will update on certain days or times because I suck at keeping a schedule. Thank you so much for reading and even more if you review. Please forgive any mistakes in the text as I don't usually notice them. Thank you again.


	6. Chapter 6

_Love is always bestowed as a gift – freely, willingly and without expectation. We don't love to be loved; we love to love. ~ Leo Buscaglia_

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Chouko sat on the couch in the living room area of the house they were staying in. It had taken a while but she had finally convinced the other hosts that she was okay and didn't need to be watched over. The group had gone out to the beach, reluctantly, but they had finally left. Chouko was watching the few clouds in the sky float by. She sighed slightly as she stood up and walked out of the room in search of the kitchen. She was supposed to be taking it easy and the hosts' meaning of that meant doing nothing the entire time. She couldn't handle that, she didn't like sitting around doing nothing.

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The hosts walked into their temporary home the smell of fresh cooked food wafted towards them. The twins ran off towards the smell, followed closely by Hunny. Tamaki chased after them and pulled a reluctant Haruhi behind him, leaving Mori and Kyouya to catch up with the group.

As the group arrived in the kitchen they saw all kinds of different foods spread out over the counters. There were even sweets spread out over the counters. A quick look around the room showed that only Chouko could have been the one to create all of the food.

"I thought I told you the doctor told you to take it easy." Kyouya stated from the doorway. His voice fell upon deaf ears as Chouko had headphones on and was singing along with the music as she moved around the kitchen with a sort of grace. There was a sad smiled spread across her lips as she sang with the lyrics. Hikaru and Kaoru shared a look before they walked up and took the headphones from Chouko's head, startling her.

"Oh, Hikaru, Kaoru. Hi, how long have you guys been here?" Chouko asked before she noticed the rest of the hosts watching her. "Oh, I guess a while then. Well, I made some food. You guys can dig in if you want." Chouko gestured to the food upon the counters. Most of the hosts went after the food eagerly, making Chouko giggle slightly.

"You are supposed to be resting. Why aren't you?" Kyouya asked as he stood in front of Chouko. The brunette shyly looked away and watched the other hosts before she answered.

"I can't sit still. I have to do something, so I decided to make food. It seems the others are enjoying it. I'm glad they are, at least that is _something_ I can do." Chouko said as the same sad smile placed itself upon her lips once more. In her mind she was convinced that she couldn't do much more than make food.

"What do you mean by that?" Kyouya asked as his glasses hid his eyes. Chouko could be a bit confusing sometimes.

"Nothing." Kyouya looked at Chouko to see that she was already back in the kitchen cleaning up from the mess she had made while cooking. Kyouya hadn't watched anyone cook before but he wondered if it was normal for there to be such a mess. Chouko was covered in flour among other things he couldn't name off hand.

"Are you normally this messy?" Kyouya asked as he leaned on the doorframe. He watched the girl walk around the kitchen and pick up dishes and utensils she had used to cook.

"For me, yes. I always make a huge mess when I cook, so I tend to avoid doing so often. I don't really like cleaning up that much, besides why cook so much when I live alone?" She shrugged as she placed the dishes in the sink and grabbed a hand towel to start cleaning up the various powders she had sprayed all over the counter by accident.

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Chouko sat in her room and read a novel she had brought with her. She sighed and rubbed her eyes before she closed the book. Her contacts were beginning to irritate her but if she didn't wear them she couldn't read. She stood up and stretched, glancing to see if the time was acceptable for her to head to bed. With a smile Chouko walked towards the bathroom that was connected to her room and took out her contacts.

As she was taking care of things in the bathroom she missed the opening of her door. Chouko walked out of the bathroom and found that there was someone sitting on a chair in the room. A pang of panic raced through her as she tried to see who it was but found she couldn't without her contacts or glasses. She took a slight step back before she spoke, voice shaking slightly.

"Who's there? What do you want?" Chouko stared at the figure but still couldn't figure out who it was, the room was dark besides the light from her lamp and the figure was mostly in the shadows.

"It's me." Chouko instantly recognized the voice as Kyouya's. She visibly relaxed as she walked across the room to sit on the bed.

"Please don't do that again. I was afraid there was a stranger in here." Chouko said with a nervous laugh.

"Oh, so you would question a stranger who is in your room instead of calling for help?" Kyouya questioned as he watched the girl.

"Well if they wanted to they could silence me right away before I could call for help. Then there isn't much I can do." Chouko shrugged. She knew she wasn't strong and couldn't do much, she just hoped she would never be in a situation where she needed it.

"What if there was someone to protect you?" Kyouya asked suddenly, confusing the girl sitting across from him. She stared at his figure, unable to actually see his face, and thought for a minute.

"Well then I would trust them to protect me. I don't understand how that could be relevant to what we were talking about though." Chouko said as her confusion showed on her face. Kyouya just shrugged before he stood and started making his way out of the room.

"Be sure and get some rest. You'll never heal properly if you don't get any."

A/N

Okay, yeah. I am really late with this. I'm sorry, life got in the way. To be honest, I lost the will to write work on this and Sun Kissed Memories. But I'm back to writing again and I hope that my readers aren't too let down with me. I'm sorry but I couldn't finish this chapter when I didn't have the inspiration to, it wouldn't have been very good at all and my readers deserve better than that.

Thank you so much for reading and I will try to get the next chapter out very soon. Thank you again.


	7. Chapter 7

_Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr_

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The short break ended for the hosts and soon it seemed that everything was back to normal. During hosting hours music would come from the kitchen and Chouko would make their sweets, everything had fallen back into the normal routine. It never seemed to bother anyone, the same thing seeming to happen each day. At least that is how it felt for Chouko, she felt as though the same thing was happening each day. She felt like she had fallen into a rut and wasn't going anywhere anymore. Her grades were good, she studied each night, and after classes she cooked for the Host Club.

After a couple weeks had passed Chouko told Kyouya that she wasn't going to be at the club after classes and that she was feeling a bit under the weather. She wanted a bit of difference even if it were only for a day. She was unsure about what was causing her to feel like she did but it persisted none the less.

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Chouko sat on a bench in the park near her house. The weather was still warm but the wind held a bit of an autumn chill to it. The teen had dressed simply for classes that day and found no need for a jacket with the air still being warm. A light sigh left her lips as she looked up to the sky. There wasn't a cloud as far as her amber colored eyes could find. Soon Chouko lost herself to her thoughts while her eyes were still on the sky.

"I thought you said you were feeling a bit sick. Why are you out here in a park?" Chouko was startled from her thoughts when she heard Kyouya speak. She looked behind her to find him standing just to the side but still behind the bench. Chouko shook her head as she moved her things for him to have a seat.

"I don't think I ever told you, it is a bit um. I guess I could say creepy how you turn up everywhere. To say the least it is odd." Chouko laughed lightly as she avoided the Ootori's question. She glanced over to him before she spoke once more. "And if you must know, I needed fresh air. I seem to have fallen into a rut, figuratively speaking."

"Oh? And what do you suppose is the reason for this?"

"I guess I do the same things each day. I haven't changed my routine and with all the excitement recently it just seems so boring. I guess I just needed a bit of a change." Chouko shrugged lightly at her thoughts before she decided to ask a question of her own. "And what would be the reason you came this way to find me?"

"I was charged with the chore of informing you that you will be taking part in the cosplay tomorrow. Tamaki thought it is time to get you out of the kitchen." Kyouya simplified the speech Tamaki had given him about hiding beauty behind curtains. The tall blonde was still as hyper as the day he arrived to Ouran.

"Oh. Uhm, do I have to?" Chouko asked a bit unsurely. Although she did enjoy cosplaying she had yet to actually be seen out while in costume.

"It would get Tamaki to calm down for a short period, so yes. He decided traditional Japanese attire will be the theme so you will have to wear a kimono." Kyouya told Chouko as they stood up from the bench. A sigh was heard from the girl and taller teen continued. "You'll have to come to the club room earlier than normal to get ready. Be prepared." He finished and began to walk off, pulling out his cell phone to call for a ride home. Chouko walked in the opposite direction her mind thinking about what was in store for her next.

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Time seemed to pass quickly and Chouko found herself standing in one of the back rooms of the club room staring at a kimono. It was very pretty, a pale lavender color with light pink cherry blossoms around the opening of the sleeves and the bottom. A light sigh came from the girl as she started to put on the kimono and quickly fix her hair. She put her hair into a bun with a few strands falling from it and a couple strands framing her face. She walked out of the small room and into the main hosting area.

"Chou-chan looks pretty!" Hunny exclaimed from his table with a cake already sitting in front of him. Chouko smiled at the senior and thanked him for saying that before she found Tamaki across the room. She walked towards him and spoke once she reached him.

"Tamaki, what am I supposed to be doing today? I'm the club's cook, not a host." Chouko asked as she looked up to the teen. He was a good few inches taller than her and it caused her to have to look up slightly.

"Chouko! My daughter is so pretty!" Tamaki yelled as he went to hug Chouko tightly. She moved to the side as quickly as she could and winced when she heard the boy hit the floor.

"I'm sorry Tamaki but I would rather nothing happen to this kimono. I'm sure I wouldn't be able to afford to replace it." Chouko said as she offered her hand to the blonde.

"You'll be hosting with Haruhi. Tamaki wanted to introduce you to our customers but neglected to think of a proper way to do so." Kyouya said as Chouko helped Tamaki stand back up.

"Are you sure that would be okay?"

"I have already talked with Haruhi and she is fine. Everyone to their places." Kyouya called without raising his voice. Chouko looked around and saw everyone getting into their welcoming positions. She was about to ask where she needed to go when she was pulled along with Kyouya. She was pulled to where she was standing in front of Kyouya and to Tamaki's right.

After the hosts welcomed the guests they split off and went to their normal locations, all but Chouko. She followed Haruhi and sat down next her. The girls who had requested the girl, not knowing her true gender, were confused. Haruhi quickly explained and introduced Chouko to them.

"It is nice to meet you girls. I haven't really been out here much because I am, I guess, the club's cook now. Normally I am back in the kitchen." Chouko said to the other girls with a light nod.

"So you're the one that makes all of the snacks we eat while we're here?" One of the girls asked curiously. Chouko nodded and the girl smiled. "They are really good."

"Thank you." Chouko said honestly, she was glad that the customers enjoyed her food and it made her a bit proud. She sat with Haruhi for a while before she noticed they were running low on tea. "Haruhi, I need to go grab some more tea. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Sure Chouko." Haruhi nodded before she turned to continue hosting the other girls. Chouko stood and quickly walked to the kitchen while being careful of the kimono. She quickly gathered what she needed to serve the tea she brought with her and had everything placed on a tray. The teen made her way from the kitchen before she was stopped by a girl she hadn't noticed before.

"You had better stay away from Haruhi. He doesn't need to be bothered by such trash." The girl commented harshly. Chouko was surprised and stared at the girl. Did she really think Chouko had feelings for Haruhi? The shocked teen turned to head back to the table when she felt a hand connect with her back and shove her, causing her to tumble forward.

The noise from the tray and glassware hitting the ground brought all eyes to her. Chouko carefully pushed herself up to look at the damage. The cups and tea pot that were on the tray now laid in pieces on the floor and the hot tea was forming a puddle under her hands. The hosts got up and offered to help their friend but she declined, telling them to go back to their customers and that she was okay. In truth she was far from it, she was upset and embarrassed but she didn't want to upset the hosts.

"Chouko, what happened?" Kyouya asked as he knelt next to the teen. Chouko shook her head before she tried to get up. She found the feat was easier said than done because of the now ruined kimono.

"I simply tripped. I'll try to make up for the cost of all of this." Chouko said as she went to work gathering the shattered glass and placing it on the tray. She would dispose of it when she got back to the kitchen and also run cold water over her hands. The girl found that her hands stung when she was moving them and was sure she had been burned a bit by the liquid.

"It seems to be more than just that." Kyouya stated as he helped Chouko to stand. He watched as she picked up the tray. Chouko just shook her head again before she left for the kitchen. Once there she threw the glass away and ran water over her stinging hands. The girl decided to stay in the kitchen and avoid a possible repeat of the accident.

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After hosting hours were over Chouko quickly changed out of the kimono and back into her clothes. She apologized to the twins, who had gotten the kimono, and told them she would make it up to them. During her conversation she didn't notice Kyouya watching her. The girl waved her hands in front of her at one of the twins' suggestions and it was then that Kyouya noticed how burned her hands were.

"Chouko. Come here." Kyouya called as he pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. Chouko looked to him before she said something to the twins and walked over.

"What is it? Do you need me to look at some papers?" Chouko asked as she stood before the boy. He shook his head before he held out his hand. Chouko looked at his hand before back up to his face in confusion. Kyouya just shook his head slightly before he grabbed Chouko's hand to look at her palm. The skin was red and irritated from being burned earlier and would take a day or two to fully go away. He gently wrapped the girl's hands before letting her go.

"Thank you." Chouko said before she turned to walk away. "Also, earlier; you were right. I don't belong in this club, not out here anyway." She spoke softly before she walked off and grabbed her things to go home.

A/N

This one was a bit more difficult to write. I'm thinking there might be more fluff in here soon. I would like to do that sometime soon. I hope this is up to par but I'm not sure. I haven't been writing too much where I'm not in classes anymore. I am seriously a good example of what not to do in class. I don't pay attention and I just write all the time. I used to write almost three pages per class. So yeah, don't do that. Either way, thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you'll be able to read the next one soon.

~Wolves


	8. Chapter 8

__There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness. ~ Nietzsche__

Chouko walked down the hallway with her books under one arm with her hand gently clutching them. Both of her hands were still red and stung from the events that had taken place earlier but she acted as though it didn't bother her. She found there was really no other way to handle it. She heard footsteps catch up to her and noticed Kyouya was walking with her.

"Are your hands okay? They seemed to be burned pretty badly yesterday." A glare on his glasses hid his eyes from sight as he looked to the teen.

"Yeah. They sting a little but I'll live." Chouko shrugged as she walked, not offering anything more to keep a conversation going. Honestly she had thought of not attending school for the day, she was too emotional to really deal with much and she had a feeling it would only get worse.

"I have some papers that I'd like you to look over so if you could talk to me before club I'll give them to you." The tall teen received nothing more than a sigh in response as they reached their class and Chouko went straight to his seat. Kyouya watched her before he took his seat, it bothered him that she was acting like that but he wasn't fully certain why.

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Classes had been let out for a good while before Chouko finally showed up in the club room. The customers had already come in and everyone was already hosting. She quickly walked over to Kyouya and spoke, keeping her eyes on the table instead of making eye contact.

"I need to go home now. If I could have those papers now I'd be really grateful." Chouko's voice sounded unsteady to Kyouya and he noticed that she didn't have any of her things with her. He glanced at her face, noticing quickly how it apeared that she had been crying.

"Where are your things?" Kyouya asked as he pulled a folder from next to his laptop. Chouko just shook her head as she grabbed for the folder. The dark haired teen grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to him, speaking softly so only she could hear. "I understand someone is bothering you. Have they done something again?"

Chouko stood frozen to her spot with her gaze stuck on the tile floor. Tears were gathering in her eyes and she was biting her lip. A shake of the head was all Kyouya got from the girl before she snatched the folder and tore from his grip. She ran out of the club, unintentionally slamming the door and drawing attention to what had just happened.

"Kyouya? What just happened?" Tamaki asked has he walked over to his friend. Kyouya watched the door before he stood up and placed his laptop on the table.

"I'll be back after a while." Kyouya then left to follow Chouko. He walked into the hallway and hurried after the retreating footsteps. He followed Chouko as she ran, making her way through the school and to the one place she loved, the maze.

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Chouko managed to get lost in the maze and sat on the ground. She was sure she was alone because hardly anyone ever went in the maze for fear of getting lost. She considered it a blessing in times like the one she was experiencing. She was correct in her feelings that the day was only going to be similar or worse than the one before it. The teen had a normal school day, staying in the classroom as she did for lunches recently, and that was where it all started.

As she was eating lunch someone came in to get something and "accidentally" hit her desk and caused her lunch to hit the floor after she only had one bit of it. Then when classes had ended Chouko decided to go to the restroom before club and thought her things would be find at her desk. She was terribly wrong. When she came back her bag was missing as was her notebooks. She was upset about it because almost everything was in her bag. The only exception being some money, her mp3 player with ear buds, and her house keys which lay in her pocket.

The chocolate haired teen took off her glasses and laid them next to her as she rubbed her eyes. Everything seemed to be getting worse, she hadn't eaten since lunch the previous day due to being busy with her job and her homework. Between the two she hadn't eaten and added to her still stinging hands she was just upset about it all. Light sobs came from her as she wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her head in her knees. She didn't hear the footsteps approaching her as she tried to calm her emotions.

"Chouko, what are you doing out here?" Kyouya's familiar voice asked, startling Chouko from her concentration. She didn't raise her head but did finally speak to him.

"These past t-two days have been t-terrible." She stuttered. "I haven't gotten to eat since around lunch yesterday, someone s-tole my stuff, and my hands s-still haven't stopped hurting. I k-knew I shouldn't have come today." Chouko tried to steady her breathing without looking up, she knew that she looked like a mess. She had been crying for a good portion of the past hour or two, she lost track of how long really.

"Someone stole your things?" Kyouya asked as he carefully sat next to the smaller sobbing teen. Chouko nodded her head before she took a deep breath and spoke again.

"I know I'm over-reacting and being s-stupid. I just needed to c-cry." She stated, still not raising her head. She didn't want to face Kyouya while she was acting so childishly. She didn't want to think of how annoyed she was making him. "I'm sorry. I'll get the p-papers back to you by tomorrow morning."

"You aren't over-reacting, maybe reacting differently than I would have expected if someone stole your things but not over-reacting." Kyouya told her as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her shaking form to him. Chouko froze and looked at him with wide eyes and her cheeks blazing. "I'll make sure that your things are returned to you. No one should take your things."

Chouko stared at Kyouya still in a bit of shock. He looked at her and his lips twitched upwards into a small smile which caused Chouko to blush deeper but smile back. She liked his smile, having only seen him smirk before. She had managed to calm herself down a good bit and finally spoke up.

"Thank you Kyouya. Thank you for coming after me and just dealing with me in general. I'm sorry for being so troublesome." The smaller teen moved to pull away but found she couldn't. She looked at Kyouya and was surprised when his lips met hers. Her cheeks turned bright red as the dark haired teen pulled away from her with that all-too familiar smirk on his features.

"I'm not going to be letting you go just yet." He smirked at her as he held the teen to him. Chouko sat still before she asked.

"W-what do you mean? We'll have to leave soon." Chouko was unsure of what Kyouya meant, but one meaning had her heart pounding in her ears. She looked at him, her cheeks still flushed with a look of mixed confusion and hope.

"I meant what I said." Kyouya spoke simply, still smirking and enjoying the look on Chouko's face.

"I'm still confused!" Chouko pouted as she was held against Kyouya. She was still watching him, hoping to find her answer in his face.

"Mine." Was the simple reply she received but it made her freeze once more. She never pictured him ever saying that, especially when the birds from one of her favorite movies popped into her head.

"Does that mean..?" Chouko left her question dangling as she looked to Kyouya only to see him nod. Suddenly the teen smiled and hugged the taller one, making them both fall over. She was giggling with a wide smile over her features. "Okay, today is good. I don't care, it was good."

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Kyouya led Chouko back to the club room, his hand was holding hers. They walked back into the Third Music Room and were greeted by the entire club. Chouko blushed darkly and was going to pull her hand away when Kyouya gave it a light squeeze. The twins were the first to notice.

"Does this mean what we think it does?" They asked in unison. Chouko simply nodded her head, not trusting her voice in the situation. Hikaru and Kaoru both smirked, Kaoru's being a bit softer, before they responded.

"We knew it was going to happen." That one statement kept the blush on Chouko's cheeks at the rest of the club asked and said their thoughts. Most of them, besides Tamaki, had seen it coming. Tamaki went off on a rant about true love or something, making Chouko giggle. The day had ended very well for her, even if it did start out very badly.

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Over the next few days the two kept their relationship from going public. There were a few good reasons, one was how Chouko would be targeted even more by jealous teens and the other was her fear of Kyouya's father finding out, as he always did, and being unhappy with the entire situation. After about a week the customers had noticed something was going on, Chouko was seen more than just staying in the kitchen and most of the time she was around Kyouya.

"Kyouya, we wanted to ask you something." Two girls said as they walked up to him. He watched them and nodded as a way of saying to continue. "Is there something between you and Chouko? We've noticed you two have been together more during club."

Kyouya looked over his shoulder to Chouko who was working on something in her new notebook, more than likely math by how she was marking out things and tapping her pencil on the paper. A smile pulled at Kyouya's lips before he turned back to the customers.

"Yes there is, we are now a couple." Chouko gasped and stood up to face him.

"I thought we weren't going to tell anyone!" She said worriedly. The two girls gave words of encouragement before they left the two alone.

"It was going to get out at some point and I can protect you from anything else now. You will tell me if something else happens, right?" Kyouya said as he grabbed Chouko and held her. The smaller teen's face flushed as she hid it in his jacket. She nodded silently as she stood in his arms, she felt a happiness she hadn't felt in years.

A/N

I'm sorry this is so late. I spilled ramen on my laptop and had to wait for my new one to come in. Yeah I was stupid, but either way I hope this was up to par and everyone enjoyed it. Thank you for reading and I should have the next one up after a few days.


	9. Chapter 9

_Love is not blind - It sees more and not less, but because it sees more it is willing to see less. - Will Moss _

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Chouko was sitting in her living room with Kyouya seated next to her. He was typing away on his laptop while Chouko drew something on the page she was supposed to be doing homework on. A light sigh left her lips as she put the pencil down and leaned back on the couch. Kyouya stopped his typing and looked over at her curious of what the teen was thinking.

"What's wrong?" Kyouya asked as he placed his laptop on the coffee table before them. Chouko shrugged before she answered.

"I can't think of something to do." She yawned as she answered and looked at the table. There were various half finished drawings spread over the table as well as partially finished homework that wasn't due for another week. She moved some papers around, organizing them and grabbing the remote for her tv and dvd player.

"Want to watch a movie with me? I have a bunch of different kinds." Chouko said as she held up the remote and looked at Kyouya with her head tilted to the side. Kyouya nodded as he looked over to her.

"What do you want to watch?" He asked as he watched the girl stand and walk over to the stand the tv was on and start looking through the cases organized underneath. She held up a case and smiled.

"This one. I bought it a while back but I never got to watch it. You don't have anything against horror movies, do you?" Chouko asked while she held the case out for him to look at. Kyouya took the dvd case and shook his head while looking over it.

"This is a Korean movie, isn't it?" Kyouya asked as he handed the case back to Chouko. The teen nodded and opened the dvd tray to put the disc in.

"From what I understand it follows a pop group or something. I never read too much about it because I didn't want to spoil it." Chouko hurried back to the couch after turning out all but one lamp that was near the their seats. She liked doing things like that, it made the movie more enjoyable in her opinion.

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Almost halfway through the movie Chouko was scared and hiding her face every now and then. Kyouya was more interested in watching Chouko's reactions than actually watching the movie. He noticed when she hid her face and when she jumped during the movie. A small smirk made its way onto his features as another jump scare got Chouko. The teen looked at him before glaring.

"Of course you aren't affected by them. Hardly anything affects you." Chouko pouted as she turned back to her movie. Really she was the only one watching it. She shook her head as the movie played, seeing things that made her want to shout at the characters.

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The movie ended and Chouko spoke of how much she liked the movie. A glance at the clock told the girl that it had gotten quite late while they watched the movie. After thinking for a moment she finally spoke to Kyouya.

"Would you like to stay the night here? It's gotten pretty late." Chouko suggested as she walked around the room and turned on the lights once more, letting their eyes adjust to the sudden change. Once she was finished she found Kyouya thinking over her offer.

"Where would I sleep?" He asked, not liking the idea of sleeping on the couch or making her either. Chouko waved for him to follow her and led him to an empty spare bedroom. It was clean and the bed clothes had been changed recently as Chouko told him.

"No one really ever comes over here and stays the night so this room is hardly ever used. I've honestly though of turning it into an office type room. Like moving my desk in here along with my keyboard." Chouko said as she leaned against the door frame. Kyouya looked around the room and found that it spoke the same, there was almost nothing in the room to say it was ever used.

"I also still have my father's clothes so you can look at them and see if there is something you can wear to sleep in." At Kyouya's questioning glance she shrugged and said," I never really got around to donating them. They are still good clothes so throwing them out would be a waste."

The two walked down the hallway to what Kyouya could only assume was the master bedroom. Chouko opened the door and walked to a dresser against a far wall. Kyouya followed her and took in the appearance of the room, to him it didn't seem to look like a room Chouko would stay in. Said teen pulled out a shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms that she thought might fit Kyouya.

"I hope these will work for you." She held them out for him to take and pointed to a room across the hall. "There is a bathroom if you want to change in there. I'll be in the living room if you need me." She walked out quickly and made her way back to the living room. Kyouya watched before he walked out and went to change in the living room.

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School resumed after the weekend and things seemed normal but Chouko knew better. Someone had found out about Kyouya staying at her house, how they found out she was likely to never found out. Now the glares were worse as was the whispering. A light sigh left her lips as she walked down the hall and hurried to her classroom. She took her seat and put her ear-buds in and started to listen to music. Chouko was early to school that morning and didn't feel like dealing with all the gossip and whispering. She turned to a blank page in her notebook and started to idly doodle on it. She was starting to get into the drawing, turning it from a simple doodle to a full drawing when suddenly water splashed all over the page and on Chouko.

Pulling out her ear-buds she looked to find a regular at the host club standing with an empty water bottle. A glance at the paper told her it and all others were ruined. A sigh left her lips as she started to wipe off the desk with her sleeve. Chouko was glad she had decided to wear a jacket instead of just a long sleeved shirt. It would keep her from getting as cold with the air conditioners and her now wet clothes. She noticed the clicking of heels as the other girl walked away, leaving the "commoner" with a mess.

When Kyouya walked in he knew something was wrong. Chouko was sitting at her desk staring out the window to the gloomy sky and had her music playing through the ear-buds. Normally she would be waiting for him or at least watching for him. It seemed she was in her own world that time. He walked over to her and called out to her. It took a few times but he finally got the teen's attention. Chouko turned to him as she took the ear-buds out and Kyouya saw her wet clothes.

"What happened?" Kyouya asked as he took his seat next to her. He noticed the water on the floor and the soggy notebook laying open on the desk.

"I knocked my water bottle over. No big deal." The girl shrugged but couldn't hide the shiver that ran through her. Even with the jacket she was still cold due to the jacket simply being too thin. Kyouya shook his head as he started to unbutton his blazer and shrug it off. Chouko didn't notice what was going on until the blazer was placed on her shoulders. "Huh?" She looked to Kyouya and saw that his blazer was gone.

"You were cold. Can't have you getting sick over a little accident." Kyouya sat back down and smirked at the blush that crept onto Chouko's cheeks. She opened her mouth to argue but was silenced when he turned to face the teacher who walked in. Chouko shook her head as she slipped her arms through the sleeves, the blush darkening a bit but a smile creeping onto her features. For a moment she forgot about the glares she was receiving from the simple act that Kyouya had shown her.

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Chouko walked along side Kyouya while they were heading to the club. She was still wearing his blazer which was too large on her. The sleeves fell over her hands, leaving only her fingers visible. As the two walked into the club room Chouko put her things down and started to take off the blazer to give back to Kyouya. She was acutally reluctant to give it back, not that it showed in her actions. The teen had found that the blazer smelled like him and she liked that. She knew he didn't really use cologne or anything and that was just how he smelled. It was something like a mint tea and it comforted Chouko.

After she gave back the blazer she made her way back into the kitchen to start preparing the snacks for the customers. She planned on staying in the kitchen as much as possible to avoid anymore confrontations with the customers. Some were nice, they were okay with her working with the hosts and some were even okay with her being with Kyouya while others didn't like her and didn't want her there.

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Kyouya watched as Chouko walked into the kitchen area and knew that something was bothering her and that she wasn't telling him exactly what happened. He planned on finding out what happened because he said he would protect her and that was something that he wasn't planning on going back on. Kyouya really didn't go back on his word.

The club went as planned but Kyouya noticed quickly that Chouko wasn't bringing the food out and that it was actually Haruhi that was going to get it and bring it out. He also heard the whispers going around the room with a select few customers and the glances towards Chouko when she did appear for some reason. It didn't take the dark haired teen long to figure out what was going on and what Chouko was keeping from him. He shook his head a bit as he went back to typing and made a plan to confront Chouko later.

A/N

So, I have two jobs now. Leaves little to no time for anything, including writing. But I'm trying to get everything out. This is being posted about five minutes before I have to leave for work. Any way, I will try to continue to update and everything. I know where I want this story to go so I'm taking it there. Thank you for reading.

Wolves


	10. Chapter 10

I guess what scares me the most now is the thought that I won't be able to protect you - Julia Hoban

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Chouko wiped her forehead with a rag that was sitting nearby and finished up cleaning the dishes that she had dirtied. She looked over the empty kitchen and shook her head a bit while she leaned against the counter. She was thinking about what she was going to do when she got home and she didn't notice that Kyouya had walked in. She was so deep in thought that he was standing right in front of her before she noticed.

"Oh, hey. Sorry, I was just thinking about what to do when I get home." She told the teen with a smile tugging at her lips. She looked up to him and the smile fell, seeing the serious face he wore. She watched him silently, waiting for him to tell her what was his mind.

"Chouko, are you still being bullied?" Kyouya asked, quickly getting to the point. He wasn't really one to dance around a subject. Chouko stared at him before she shook her head but didn't meet his eyes. "You're lying to me." Kyouya stated, staring down at the girl who seemed to be smaller in that moment.

"Okay, you're right. They are still being mean to me but it is nothing I haven't dealt with before. Don't worry about it." Chouko said, waving her hand in front of her as if to dismiss the topic.

"Can't you trust me to help you?" Kyouya asked as Chouko walked to put milk back in the refrigerator. Chouko stopped and stood with her back to him, thinking over what he said. She did trust him, she trusted him more than she had anyone else in a long time. Why was it she didn't want him involved?

"I don't want you to get involved in stupid drama. Sooner or later something else will happen and they will move on. It happens all the time." Chouko shrugged before she went back to putting everything away. In truth she didn't want him involved because she had a feeling it would make things worse. It seemed that was how it would always happen, once you went for help it would become even worse.

"But I can help you, I can get them to stop." Kyouya told her as he moved out of the teen's way. He was so sure that he could stop them from bullying the girl.

"Please, stop. It wouldn't help. It would possibly make it worse. I can handle this so it is okay." Chouko smiled at Kyouya with her eyes closed, trying to fight back the urge to cry. Even though she had a feeling that everything would get worse if she sought help it didn't stop things from affecting her. She wasn't as strong as some thought her to be. She honestly wanted to give in and let him fight her battle but Chouko knew that was no way to do things.

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Chouko sat outside during lunch the next day. She wanted to be alone for a little while, away from everyone. She needed to think. Kyouya was offering to protect her but how well could he do that when she wasn't around him. There would always be times when they could get to her. A light sigh left her lips as she chewed on some rice from her bento.

"Oh, well look who it is." The voice that Chouko wished she hadn't found familiar reached her ears. Akane, one of three regulars at the Host Club who had taken to tormenting her. "It's the little commoner whore." Chouko clenched her jaw, trying to avoid making things worse. If she said something she was sure it would make things worse.

"What, you aren't going to talk to us? Think you're too good?" One of the other girls, Hikari, spoke before laughing. Chouko moved to close her bento when one of them knocked it from her lap, causing the half finished lunch to spill out all over the ground. That caused a chorus of laughs from the girls as Chouko knelt down to pick up the chopsticks and the bento box.

"Listen here you little bitch. You had best stay away from the Host boys. They don't need your kind ruining their reputation, whore." Akane added in the last part as if to prove her point.

Chouko clenched her jaw, trying to stop herself from saying anything. She knew if she did she wouldn't be able to stop herself. Suddenly she felt pain in her side and fell. She felt something sharp on her head and another hit, this time to the back of her head.

"What are you? Stupid? Can't you say anything?" Hikari said as she kicked at the other teen. They laughed again before they left, leaving the girl in the dirt to pick up her things.

Chouko winced when she pushed herself up and felt dizzy. She knew her head was bleeding from the feeling of something wet on her face. She leaned back against the bench and stared at the sky which was quickly darkening from an approaching storm. Tears built in her eyes as she thought about leaving the hosts. It would make things stop, wouldn't it? Would everything continue as it was even if she didn't see her friends?

"Is there a right choice?" Chouko whispered to herself as the first drops of rain came down around her, quickly turning into a downpour.

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Kyouya asked Haruhi if she had seen Chouko. He hadn't seen her since lunch and was wondering where she had gone off to.

"Last time I saw her, she was heading into the courtyard with a bento. I never noticed if she came back but I did see three other girls walk off that way. I think I've seen them come in here a lot." Haruhi said as she thought back to what she had seen through the window. Kyouya thanked her before he walked out, confusing the younger teen. Was there something going on that she hadn't noticed yet?

Kyouya walked quickly to where he knew Chouko would sometimes sit. It had been raining since lunch and that was when he noticed the form of the girl he was searching for.

"Chouko? What are you doing out here?" Kyouya called over the rain as he hurried to the girl. She looked over and through blurred vision saw Kyouya walking to her. She blinked, trying to clear her eyes of the tears that had gathered. Kyouya noticed the cut on her forehead that was still bleeding and her bento box laying in the mud. "What happened?" He asked as he knelt next to her.

"I don't know what to do anymore. I can't..." Chouko spoke softly as she looked at her hands. They were covered in water and a bit of mud that had splashed up from the rain. She thought that going on how she was would make them stop. It just made things worse. "I'm tired."

"Come on, you need to get out of the rain." Kyouya pulled Chouko up onto the bench as he picked up her things. He grabbed her hand and led her inside the building and back to the club room.

Once they were in the club room everyone stared, each having a different reaction to the soaked and mud covered teen. Chouko just stood awkwardly by the door, keeping her gaze on the floor. Kyouya had left her side to get something to put on her forehead.

"I'm sorry everyone." Chouko said before she turned and ran out the doors. She almost slipped on the smooth tile floor with her wet sneakers. She didn't want to face them, she didn't want to face anyone.

A/N

I'm sorry everyone. Things got kinda bad for me for a while. And I'm sure this isn't the best. I'm sorry and Ill try to update soon.


	11. Chapter 11

Chouko sat on the floor behind her closed door, water dripping from her soaked clothes onto the tile. She knew she couldn't keep running away from her problems, nothing would ever change if she did. A light sigh left her lips as she pushed herself up and walked to her room to change into dry clothes. After she changed she decided to go to the kitchen and make some tea to warm herself up.

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><p>The next day Chouko wasn't anywhere to be found at the school. When classes ended the hosts decided to see if they could find her at her house. Tamaki explained to the guests that something was wrong with one of the members and that due to it the club wasn't going to open that day. Most where upset by the news, wanting to know what was wrong, but he noticed the subtle look of triumph on a few girl's faces. After he closed the doors he looked to the other members to make sure they were ready to go.<p>

Kyouya was silent the entire way, as was normal but Haruhi noticed it wasn't a normal silence for the Shadow King. He was upset by the recent turn of events, she could tell.

"She will be okay. Chouko will eventually tell you what is wrong." Haruhi said as they reached the teen's house. Kyouya just nodded as he followed behind the other hosts. The twins knocked on the door and when the didn't receive a response they started to shout through the door. When the door opened they noticed a somewhat angry Chouko who looked as though she had just gotten out of bed.

"Why are you yelling at my door?" She asked, irritation seeping into her voice and into the glare she directed at the twins. They backed away from the angry girl before they spoke.

"We didn't see you at school.."Karou started.

"So we decided to come by and see if you were okay." Hikaru finished after his brother. Chouko let out a sigh before she motioned the others into her house and started to explain.

"I woke up feeling sick. Had a bad headache, which hasn't gone away, my stomach was hurting and I just felt like crap. So I stayed in bed and slept for a while longer. I guess I'll make you guys some tea or something. Want some?" Chouko asked as she rubbed her forehead lightly and winced when her cold fingers made the headache worse. The hosts agreed to tea and the teen left to make the tea with Kyouya following behind her.

"You want to say something, I can tell. So go ahead and say it while I make the tea. I have to move quick or the twins will break something." Chouko said as she pulled down some chai tea from the cabinet.

"Why don't you let me help you? I want to help you." Kyouya asked.

"I thought it would make things worse. And it probably would. But doing nothing has been the wrong course too. I just don't know what to do with this anymore. I don't want to get anyone else involved because those girls can be so mean and nasty. I'm just tired of it. Part of me wishes I had never started to attend Ouran because of this." Chouko spoke softly as she ran water in a tea kettle and put it on the stove to boil.

"What do you mean part of you?" Kyouya asked, finding that one part a bit strange.

"It's simple, had I not started at Ouran I would have never been up for ridicule from those girls. But that also would have meant I never met any of you. So, I guess I have to take the bad with the good." Chouko stated plainly as she leaned on the counter with eyes closed. She pushed her glasses up so she could rub the bridge of her nose. Her headache wasn't getting any better.

"You should let me, let us help you. No one in the club wants to see you upset like this. You are a friend to all of us." Kyouya said as he pulled the girl to him and hugged her. He knew she was upset and wanted to help her. He held her to him and felt her bury her face in his shoulder. The two stayed like that until the whistling of the tea kettle broke them from their thoughts.

"Thank you." Chouko said with a pained smile. She quickly removed the tea kettle from the heat and rubbed her head, she wanted the headache to go away.

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><p>After an hour the hosts ended up playing video games with the teen. She admitted she still did have a headache but wanted to play games more. That led to her teaching the other hosts how to play various games, mostly multiplayer. The twins had found a couple other games that seemed interesting to them, one taking place during the zombie apocolypse.<p>

"I didn't think you were interested in those types of games." Tamaki said as he watched the twins shoot the zombies and try to survive.

"How do you think I avoid punching people?" Her response surprised him, and a couple others. None of them really thought of Chouko as a violent type. When she noticed their looks she decided to explain. "I tend more to bottle things up, as you guys have seen. But there are times where I get pretty angry and want to punch people or things. So, killing the zombies in the game helps. Even more if I found a katana in the game."

"Well, that's new." Haruhi pointed out when Chouko was done speaking.

"Well not exactly. I've always been like that. I just tend to try to hide that I am a gamer, most people find it pretty weird. And I'm weird as it is." Chouko laughed and turned back to Hikaru and Kaoru, yelling when she saw something.

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><p>Later the hosts decided it was time to leave and called their rides. The only ones left were Kyouya and Chouko. Chouko looked at the teen and smiled, confusing him a bit at the action.<p>

"Thank you. Sometimes only a hug is needed to make things better." Chouko said as she leaned back on the couch.

"Ah, then I should start hugging you more." Kyouya smirked as he pulled the girl to him in another hug.

"I honestly would not mind that." Chouko smiled as she laid her head on his shoulder. She was comfortable and, at the moment, she was happy.

A/N

So, that was longer than I would have liked for that to have gone. Sorry about that. I was almost about to stop writing for this but I didn't want to disappoint all those who reviewed and added this to their watch list. I also wanted to get out of the bullying thing, as I had no idea how to handle that. It was kind of a bad idea to put that into the story but when dating a host she would have to attract some bad attention. Either way, thank you everyone for reading this story. I won't say when the next update will be because I don't want to make a promise I can't keep. I will try to update it fairly soon though. Thank you again.


	12. Chapter 12

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another. - Charles Dickens

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Chouko sat on one of the many couches spread throughout the club room. There was a book open on the table before her with various notebooks that she had notes copied in. It had been a while since all the drama, Kyouya helped her get everything to blow over. Now exams were coming up before winter break. She was trying to study for exams but the other hosts were making it difficult.

"Hey, can you guys quiet down a little. I have an exam tomorrow and I would much rather not fail." Chouko called over her shoulder to Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru. The three were running around making the most noise as Tamaki yelled something about devils and daughters. Chouko sighed slightly when she realized that they weren't going to calm down.

"You should know that doesn't work." Kyouya stated as he took a seat next to her. "Those three will always be causing such a ruckus." He looked over the notes spread on the table and realized they were notes for history.

"Yeah. I just wish they would stop for once. I mean they are in a club together, you would think they would get along better." Chouko sighed as she laid her head on Kyouya's shoulder. She smiled and closed her eyes. "But I guess it is better than complete silence. That is just as bad as too much noise, wouldn't you say?"

"Depends on the company you have." Kyouya responded, making Chouko nod her head in agreement. "Why are you so worried about this exam? I thought you did well in history." He pointed out as Chouko sat up and started to look over the notes again.

"Something came up, I couldn't study as much as I normally did. So I've fallen a little behind. I can catch up though." She stated simply as she packed up her notes in her bag and stood up. "I have to go to work now, I'll be late if I don't leave now. I'll send you a text later." Chouko kissed Kyouya on the cheek and hurried out of the club room, unknowingly grabbing the attention of those in it.

"I didn't think Chouko had to work today." Haruhi said, essentially speaking what everyone was wondering. Kyouya shook his head.

"Normally she doesn't. Something more is up than what she is telling." He pushed his glasses up on his nose. If anyone was going to find out it would be the Ootori.

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Chouko pushed her front door closed with her foot, looking at the mail in her hands. There were two bills and a letter. With a sigh she put down the mail and took her shoes off. She placed them next to the door and picked up the letter out of the mail. After sitting down on the couch with her bag the teen opened the letter.

_Dear Chouko,_

_We are almost set to move. Are you sure you don't want to come with us? I can't keep paying your bills from so far away. You should come with us. I'm sure your parents wouldn't like that you've been living alone like this. Please consider it._

_Love,_

_Aika_

Chouko read the letter aloud to herself and sighed once finished. She knew her aunt couldn't continue to help her but she didn't expect it so soon. With her Uncle being transferred to the United States she wouldn't have any family in the country. The two had been helping the teen since her parents passed, paying her bills and helping as much as she would allow. Chouko didn't want to be a burden to her aunt and uncle, only letting them do what was necessary.

"This isn't good." She spoke softly to herself as she laid the letter down and got up to get ready for bed. She was tired from working.

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The next morning Chouko sat at her desk and yawned before she laid her head down. Her exam was to start soon but she was in no state to take it. Kyouya took his seat next to her and looked over the exhausted girl. He shook his head slightly before he spoke to her.

"What is going on? It is obvious that something is happening in your home life, you are not normally like this." Kyouya stated as Chouko tiredly sat up.

"I can't tell you now. You are the one who pointed out what I was doing was against school regulations." Chouko stated, knowing he would understand the hidden meaning. The teacher walked in at that moment and started going over the exam procedures.

During the exam Chouko did her best to stay awake but found herself nodding a few times. After trying prodding her finger with the pencil she decided to try to get through the exam as quick as she could so she would actually finish it. It didn't take long and once she was done she turned the paper over and placed it on the corner of her desk. For the rest of the time, she was going to sleep.

After the exam was finished the day was over. Their exam days were short, trying to keep the students from being over worked with the exams. Kyouya woke Chouko as the class emptied. He told Tamaki they would meet him in the club room and was left with the girl.

"Chouko, the exam is over. It is time to leave." Kyouya shook her shoulder and woke her up.

"Oh, I slept right through the teacher." Chouko muttered sleepily. She yawned and stretched before getting up and grabbing her bag. "Well, time for the club."

"Why are you working more?" Kyouya stopped her from leaving the classroom to talk to her.

"Personal reasons. I need the money now. It's fine though, I can handle this."

"But you are falling asleep in classes. What time did you go to sleep last night?"

"After studying and everything, I would say around two."

"That bakery closes at seven."

"I have another job now."

"Why?"

Chouko sighed, she was going to have to tell him sooner or later. "My aunt and uncle are moving to the States. They can't help me anymore and the amount I was making before wasn't enough to pay my bills. So now I have two jobs to pay them all."

"We can help you." Kyouya stated, talking on behalf of all of the club members.

"I don't want that. I don't want to be a burden to anyone, especially my friends. I'm fine doing what I am now." Chouko stubbornly said. She knew she couldn't go on like she was for long but she didn't want to cause problems with her friends.

"Why don't you want help? You push away everyone's attempts at helping you, do you think that makes them happy?" Chouko slowly shook her head. "They offer because they want to help you. We…" He paused for a second before he continued, "I want you to be happy."

"I'm sorry. I just don't want to cause problems with anyone." Chouko said softly as she hugged Kyouya.

"It wouldn't be trouble if you let us help you."

A/N

So, that took longer than expected. The reason was I had no idea for a plot line anymore. I had lost it in the time I have been working on it. So I got some help from my boyfriend. He suggested the current plot line and I have some ideas of my own that will go with this. But I don't think this will go on much longer. If it surpasses twenty-five chapters I will be surprised. Either way, this should be updated a bit more now. Also, I am thinking of a way to revise Sun Kissed Memories and make it a stand alone story. So, if you are interested in that idea keep an eye out for that. Thank you to everyone who reads this, and follows and even reviews. It is what has kept this story going. Honestly, thank you.

~Wolves


	13. Chapter 13

Chouko sighed as she laid her head on the table where the hosts were having their meeting. Kyouya had informed every one of her situation and they were all offering different solutions. She was grateful for all the help, but it made her feel like a burden to her friends. Each of the hosts had been shocked to find out that the teen was working two jobs and also studying at night. Haruhi told her she wouldn't last long doing that, to which Chouko agreed.

"Well, what do you want to do Chouko?" Haruhi asked the teen and all attention was turned towards her. She lifted her head and looked at them before she finally spoke.

"I want a good night's sleep and not to worry about any of this anymore." She sighed again and rubbed her forehead. "I'm sorry guys. I just have been a bit stressed recently. I've been working at a convince store after working at the bakery most nights. I'd like to not really bother you guys with this." Kyouya shook his head when he heard Chouko say that and pushed his glasses up.

"We want to help you. There is no other reason we would be offering." He sighed before speaking again. "I believe I could talk my father into letting you live with us. Would you prefer that?" Kyouya asked as he glanced over to Chouko. The teen sighed again before she nodded.

"I could work doing something for your family while I stay there. That shouldn't cause too much of a problem I think." Chouko blushed lightly, it was something that she wasn't expecting at the point.

"Okay. I will talk to my father soon and see what he will say." Kyouya said as he pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

**nNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNn**

Chouko continued doing as she was, working two jobs and trying to keep up with her school work, for as long as she could. It had been a couple weeks since Kyouya had asked if she would be willing to live with him and his family and she had yet to hear anything else of it. She hadn't brought it up to him either, afraid that maybe she had misunderstood him. The teen was sitting in the club room trying to get in some last minute studying before she had to leave from work.

"Chouko, what do you think our theme should be next week?" Tamaki asked as he bounced up to the teen.

"I'm not sure. You have done most of the ones I could think of already. Maybe you could hold a poll as ask the guests." Chouko suggested as she continued with her work as best she could. She didn't want to fall behind so early in the classes. Suddenly she was attacked with a hug and lifted off of the couch she was residing on.

"You are brilliant daughter of mine!" Tamaki shouted as he twirled the poor girl around.

"Tamaki, please put me down!" Chouko called to the hyper blonde. She pushed against him trying to get him to let loose. She managed to push him away but she stumbled as she stepped away and fell backwards. The teen landed with a thump that caught the attention of all of the hosts. She laid there for a moment before speaking. "Ouch."

"I'm sorry Chouko. Daddy didn't mean to!" Tamaki wailed and retreated to his corner of woe. Kyouya offered the girl a hand up and sent a glare in the direction of the blonde idiot.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he pulled Chouko back to her feet. The brunette simply nodded and took her seat once more. Kyouya sat next to her, looking over the work she had been doing. "I've been talking to my father. He wasn't too pleased with the idea at first but he finally gave the okay. So long as you don't cause trouble for him or my brothers. You'll also be working around the house but that has yet to be set." Chouko looked at Kyouya and nodded, a tired smile pulling at her lips.

"Thank you, Kyouya."

A/N

I'm sorry this isn't the best I could have done. I've had a writer's block for a long time now, and also I've been trying to keep up with school, work, and figuring out how to get to said places. That happened last month. I'll be trying to keep updating this as I can. I'm struggling with it but I want to finish it for all of my readers. I feel I owe it to you to finish this, so on it will go. Thank you so much to those who reviewed, followed and all of that. It makes me happy that people enjoy this story so much. Thank you again.


	14. Chapter 14

Chouko sighed as she placed her things in the cardboard box in front of her. Mostly everything was already packed up and at Kyouya's house. She only had a few of her clothes, some personal items, and the like to pack. All of it filled two somewhat small boxes. She glanced at her phone before she closed the box and taped it shut. Kyouya would be arriving soon to pick her up and take her to his house. It was going to take her a while before she could call his house "home".

The teen was brought from her thoughts by a knock on the door. She picked up her boxes and went to the door, balancing the boxes on her hip as she pulled the door open to see Kyouya.

"I see you're ready." He stated before he led her to the car that was brought to retrieve her.

"I didn't have that much more to pack. Thank you again for doing this." Chouko said as she placed her boxes in the trunk of the car and closed it. She climbed in the car, followed by Kyouya who then motioned for the driver to take them home.

"I wanted to help you. This is the best I can offer you right now. At least you can get your grades back up where they belong." Kyouya said softly before pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

"You know, when I see you do that it makes me do it too." Chouko pointed out as she pushed her own glasses up. "I think it is like a yawn. Don't you think?"

"Maybe." Kyouya chuckled a bit as he watched the teen who has turned her attention to the window. It was slowly growing darker and he was glad that she was going to be settled in fairly soon.

**nNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNn**

Chouko looked around her room in amazement. It was similar to Kyouya's in style but not as big. Where his had a dedicated second story, of sorts, hers was just the one level. Her room was still bigger than the room she had at her house. She stopped for a moment, not anymore.

"It's huge." Chouko looked around before she stopped. "Don't say anything. I do not think of my wording." She then walked off to start unpacking her things into the room, not leaving Kyouya any time to respond to her comment other than to chuckle.

"This will be your room for the remainder of your stay here. I hope you like it. My room is just on the other side of the hall." Kyouya said as he followed her. He watched as she unpacked a box, noticing with slight curiosity when she opened a box and immediately shut it, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"I do like it, but could I ask you a favor?" Chouko looked up at Kyouya from her crouched position in front of the partially closed box. He hummed, letting her know to continue. "Can you leave for a bit so I can unpack? There are things I would rather put away without you watching me." The blush remained on her cheeks, making Kyouya chuckle slightly.

"Sure." Kyouya smiled at the teen before he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead and leaving, not seeing the blush get darker.

**nNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNn**

"Have you settled in fine?" Haruhi asked as the two sat at one of the tables in the Third Music Room. Chouko nodded before looking at Haruhi with wide eyes.

"The bed is so big. And soft. You need to come over and see this. It is insane." She told the younger girl excitedly. Haruhi laughed a bit at her reaction before she agreed. She would like to see where her friend was living now. Chouko sighed slightly, calming herself before she went to resume her homework. It was a somewhat normal day for the hosts so it wasn't too loud for her to focus.

"It's good that you've settled in fine." Haruhi said before she got up to head back to her own table.

**nNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNnNn**

Kyouya sat on his couch working on some projections for the host club over the next few weeks. He rubbed his eyes tiredly as he stopped for a moment. He noticed how late it had gotten and sighed, knowing he was in for another late night. His thoughts were disrupted by the soft sound of his door opening. Kyouya looked at the door, knowing that it wasn't any of the maids still up, and found Chouko standing in her pajamas while sleepily rubbing her eyes.

"What are you doing?" He asked as she made her way over to his couch and sat down.

"Had nightmare. What doing?" Chouko asked through a yawn. Kyouya nodded before he told her what he was doing. Chouko tried to follow but was slowly falling back asleep, her head starting to lean forward before she forced herself awake once more.

"Why don't you go back to sleep? I'm sure you won't have that nightmare again." Kyouya said as he placed his laptop on the coffee table.

"Afraid. Things were going bad. I lost you." Chouko mumbled, not really wanting to think about the nightmare. "I don't want to go back."

"I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." He told her softly, pulling her towards him. Chouko didn't fight and leaned against him. It wasn't long before she was asleep again, the steady sound of her breathing lulling Kyouya into sleep as well.

A/N

I'm sorry guys. It is taking me so long to be able to write for this now. I seem to, for the most part, have lost my muse for this story, and writing fan fiction, in general. I am now working on an original story that I want to be published into a book series. I am so excited about it. It will be called the Elementals and the first book titled "Unity". I already have a couple pages of the first chapter written but I have over seven pages, front and back of lined notebook paper, written that takes place later in the first book.

I am sorry that progress on this story has slowed so much. I haven't been watching much anime anymore, or writing besides my book. I don't want to abandon this story but I may have to so it may someday be finished. I'm not going to do that now, I'm going to see if I can finish this story on my own, without putting it up for adoption. Life has gotten hectic for me in the last like four months.

Also, sorry for the long note, but this bit was written when I finished the chapter, the other part before I finished. I didn't want to forget what I was going to say. This time though I just wanted to share. I've actually had a nightmare like that. All I can remember is it was apocalyptic in setting and I lost someone. Certainly not a fun time. Either way, I hope everyone enjoyed this and I should have another chapter up sometime. Won't be next week because it will be crazy with my work schedule.


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